VLAMBelgian beef exports booming

fleischwirtschaft.com — BELGIUM, Brussels. Belgian beef is mainly produced for the export business, which gained considerable momentum last year: Around 202,500 t were sold abroad, a substantial increase of 10.3% compared to the peak year 2016.

Interest in Belgian beef increased by 8.6% across Europe to 181,605 t, representing 90% of EU sales. Exports to third countries increased by 27.5% to 20,888 t.

European top three customers are traditionally the Netherlands, France and Germany. The Dutch have significantly boosted their beef imports from Belgium by 18% to 71,716 t. France increased slightly to 39,967 t (+ 0.9%). Germany ordered 32,390 t, or plus 10.6%, significantly more than a year ago.

Ghana and Ivory Coast are the two most important destinations outside the Union with 7 700 and 6 100 t respectively.